IOC President Visits Los Angeles - On the Scene

(ATR) IOC President Thomas Bach is in California to tour proposed Los Angeles 2024 venues and talk with city and bid leaders.

Tuesday he heads north to Silicon Valley for meetings with technology executives.

Hours after stepping off his flight Sunday, the IOC President had a courtside seat at the Staples Center, the venue for gymnastics, basketball and trampoline if Los Angeles wins the 2024 Games. He saw the Charlotte Hornets defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 101-82, the record-tying 10th straight loss for the home team despite 23 points from two-time Olympic gold medalist Kobe Bryant in his final season.

Bach was joined by Casey Wasserman, the bid committee chair, and Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the former Lakers great and now a vice chair for the campaign.

The visit gives Los Angeles, which has already hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984, a chance to show that it has evolved and can offer an exciting, fresh experience.

IOC member Anita DeFrantz, who was recently named senior advisor for legacy for the LA 2024 bid, couldn’t wait to show off her city.

"It’s going to be a pretty fast visit, but he’ll see a lot of the changes that have happened in this city since 1984. He was here for the 2012 international conference on Women and Sport, but we pretty much confined it to one area of town. It’ll be nice to have him see more of what Los Angeles has become."

On Monday, Bach and the IOC delegation will meet with Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti, City Council President Herb Wesson, and LA 2024 leaders including Wasserman, CEO Gene Sykes, Vice Chair Janet Evans, Chairman Larry Probst and CEO Scott Blackmun from the USOC and IOC members DeFrantz and Angela Ruggiero. He will also mingle with business leaders and Olympic gold medalists.

The IOC delegation will tour the two most prominent universities in the city, which would play vital roles during the Games.

The tour begins at the University of Southern California. The Los Angeles Coliseum, where the Trojans play college football, was built for the 1932 Olympics and was a centerpiece of the 1984 Games. In 2024, the stadium mighthost the Opening and Closing Ceremony and track and field. Some USC dorms will house the media village.

Bach will then cross town to tour the LA24 offices near UCLA before lunch on the Westwood college campus, which was recently announced as the site of the Olympic Village. He is expected to kick around a soccer ball – as he does during many appearances including his trip to a refugee camp in Greece -- at the Bruins soccer field prior to taking questions from the media.

The IOC delegation will dine at the Getty Center on Monday night.

"We are honored to welcome IOC President Thomas Bach to the City of Angeles," Garcetti said. "Los Angeles is a forward thinking city, where possibilities become opportunities. We look forward to showing President Bach and IOC officials our plans to harness our creativity, innovation and fiscal discipline to create a new Games for a new era."

Wasserman said he appreciated the opportunity to discuss how the Los Angeles plans align with the "visionary Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms" implemented by the IOC President.

"Guided by President Bach’s leadership," Wasserman said, "we are creating a Games concept that offers athletes the best, personalized experience through our ideal climate and existing world-class venues, leaving a legacy to inspire the next generation at home and abroad."

Bach has been holding meetings with 2024 candidate city officials for the past year in Lausanne and on site. He is fresh off a trip to Budapest in December. The other cities bidding for the 2024 Olympic Games are Paris and Rome.

The IOC delegation travels to Silicon Valley on Tuesday morning. Bach is scheduled to leave California on Friday, two days before the Super Bowl in nearby Santa Clara. Bach attended the Super Bowl last year in concert with a visit to USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs.

Written and reported by Karen Rosen in Los Angeles.

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